Search engine giant Yahoo! Is on the verge of unveiling a new tool which could be of great benefit for companies seeking to improve sales through online marketing.

The forthcoming Yahoo! Search Direct tool aims to bring the search engine up to par with arch-rival Google, with features such as the ability to predict what a search query will be as it is typed and to instantly list results for these predictions.

Internet advertising will also get a boost from a pop-up feature, which displays a box on the screen containing content that Yahoo! believes will be relevant for the user.

The search engine’s head of search and marketplaces Shashi Seth said that items to be included in this Search Direct box could include video adverts or graphic ads – which will be of great interest to anyone planning Pay Per Click or Paid Search internet marketing campaigns.

Mr Seth went on to promise more revelations from Yahoo!, saying: “Over the course of the next couple of months you’re probably going to see some of these ideas at play.”

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Online marketing expert Waseem Saddique urged companies basing internet advertising and marketing campaigns around pay per click (PPC) strategies to tailor the strategy to the different requirements of standard computers and mobile devices.

Mr Saddique stressed that PPC ads destined for mobile devices such as smartphones and iPads have different restrictions and needs when it comes to online marketing – such as the layout of the advert, which needs to be optimised for viewing on a smaller screen. Such ads need to be simpler and more eyecatching, he suggested, especially since people on the go will only be looking at such ads for a very limited time period.

Location, location, location is becoming more important in the field of internet marketing as well, Mr Saddique added.

Many web giants are already making changes to the way they operate in order to make it easier for online marketing efforts, such as Google.

In February, the search engine leader announced new features for AdWords, such as the capacity to add different payment methods and switch between them at will.

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An internet marketing expert has urged businesses with an online presence to ensure that they offer the very best in customer service.

Wolff Olins retail strategist Suzy Radcliffe said that too many retailers forget about providing top-class customer support when planning their online marketing and online advertising campaigns – preferring to focus instead on making their products or services widely available and maximising the possibility of sales.

Ms Radcliffe stressed that such priorities were of course important for any company seeking to maximise returns via internet marketing, but insisted that the best in customer service also helped firms to secure more sales through customer satisfaction and loyalty.

She cited a recent YouGov survey, which revealed that 84 per cent of customers buying online would never come again to a first-time website if they felt they had received bad customer service.

“That is a really fruitful area for retailers to start building brand loyalty and brand advocates by offering superb customer service,” Ms Radcliffe added, recommending that online companies should respond swiftly to any customers’ queries or complaints and ensure that problems were dealt with efficiently.

The head of a leading marketing firm has said that the future could see internet marketing initiatives being tailored towards individual customers.

Speaking last week at the Technology for Marketing and Advertising event in Manchester, Alterian John Fleming’s vice-president of field marketing for Europe and Asia-Pacific John Fleming said that brands should make more of an effort to engage potential customers while they are trying to decide between different companies, arguing that there was a divide between the two at the moment because customers first search on Google before sampling different companies’ websites to make their final decision

“That’s all taken place outside of any interaction at all with the brand and yet they’re about to make a powerful buying decision without influence from the brand itself,” he said.

Mr Fleming said that instead, online marketing efforts should be seeking to reach out to individual customers and that technology was swiftly catching up with the need to do this.

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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) assumed extra responsibilities today that will ensure it is better able to regulate the growing field of internet marketing – and especially internet advertising via social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

Prior to this date, the watchdog was only able to examine and adjudicate paid-for advertising online, leaving a loophole when it came to social media, which lay outside its remit.

However, the ASA has received more than 4,500 complaints over the past two years which concern social media and online advertising. It now hopes that its expanded remit will be adequate to cover this burgeoning field.

It could, under its new powers, remove advertising from search engines such as Google, as well as being able to place its own adverts warning users about ads that are in breach of the regulations.

The ASA stressed that it will be “acting on and investigating complaints as well as pro-actively monitoring and taking action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements.”